Hardcore supergroup/purveyors of awesome minute-long songs OFF! have collaborated with artist Shepard Fairey (who did the Obama “Hope” poster, if you’ve been living under a rock inside a cave on a deserted island) for the cover of their Record Store Day 7” Learn to Obey. True to form, it’s fast, furious and over before you know it. It’s out on RSD, April 19. Read more about how this whole thing came together via Esquire—it should be no surprise that Fairey, who got his start as a street artist from the skateboarding scene, is a hardcore fan.

Antwon’s goth-rap track “Rain Song” builds its dusky mood over a full minute before he or cohort Lil Ugly Mane deliver a single rhyme. Antwon, who used to be raps about devotion, temptation and increasing paranoia while Shawn Kemp’s cathedralesque production drips all over everything. Antown and co. recreate the feeling of being trapped, whether that’s physically during a rainstorm, or mentally (“He built up a wall to have somewhere to hide but anxiety’s coming from somewhere inside”). Heavy Hearted in Doldrums is due May 6.

One of the greatest indie rock bands of all time helped start the year off in support of their album Fade, playing a set that combined heavy guitar histrionics with more intimate moments. Read my full recap here.

As we all know (because we're living the history as it's being made), the music industry has changed

Best Coast plays Amoeba SF

dramatically in the past decade and continues to do so rapidly. Everyone still loves music, but the concept of ownership, collecting, and procuring music is constantly evolving for all of us. No matter how you prefer to get music -- in the cloud, on vinyl or CD, downloaded -- one thing hasn't changed; the best way to experience music is live and in the flesh. The Experience of being part of a live performance, giving energy from the audience to the musician while they play their hearts out, can't be stored on any device. You just have to live it. We here at Amoeba Music consider it paramount to continue to provide live entertainment in our stores and keep Experience alive.

Amoeba San Francisco and Berkeley were particularly blessed with great in-store performances in 2013. From legends like Nik Turner, Billy Bragg, and Camper Van Beethoven to new faces on the scene like Lissie and Bastille, each and every show was a fantastic reminder of how thrilling live music can be. It was daunting to have to pick just ten of these shows, but here they are in reverse chronological order...Amoeba SF and Berkeley's ten best in-stores of 2013!

-- Lee Ranaldo In-Store Guitar Clinic, 12/11/2013, San Francisco

Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo amazed and mystified the audience with nearly a half-hour of continuous guitar mastery, at the end of which he finally looked up and asked, "Any questions?" Lee was in town with his project Lee Ranaldo and the Dust.

Oft lost in the great “best albums of the year” rush are EPs, those unimposing 18-minute-or-so releases that artists release between albums, to try stuff out or to unload extra songs. While you don’t get the whole enchilada of a full-album statement, EPs are like a great appetizer that leave you wanting more, and 2013 was full of delicious bloomin’ onions. Here are 10 that I liked, in no particular order.

William Emmanuel Bevan makes the kind of music Thom Yorke dreams about, dark, brooding electronic music that blends subgenres like dubstep (the good kind) while sounding like its own thing, future-seeking yet emotional and grimy. He hasn’t had a full-length album since 2007’s great Untrue, but he released several EPs this year, including the recent Rival Dealer 12” and, earlier this year, this release of two 10-plus-minute tracks, the first entrancing and inviting, the second morose and restless.

Through my Weekly Roundup series every Thursday (returning in 2014), I listen to a lot of stuff from California-based artists. Here’s a list of 40 great albums that were made by artists based in this great state. There were lots more, so just consider this my own personal list, and let me know if there’s anything I missed!